Tracking the Flood, Part 18

42625 strums and melodies
427I_never_get_tired_of_you_2015_2_5_10
428Superfriend w/ AltB – SFTBH
429Let’s Go Surfing – I  bIII   VII   IV acoustic instrumental
430The British Are Coming – v40 Sons Of Liberty
431Valley Forge 065
432I vi IV V maybe on the piano
433Ideas 10-3-2013 15h40m31s 1
434Good Times   5 verses @102
435Collaborate
436Superstars    29
437Unknown Song F – 2012-12-13 sketch 1
438Bo Diddley
439Why Am I Getting So Upset – v6
440Awaken Early – v4 @118 90s dance
441Won’t Be Long
442O.G.s 007
443Bender   2 @79.mp3
44418 The Angel and the One 2
445Gaiser Riff    C15 Brit Hi-Gain W_Ph 2
446Take Your Life – v2
447ideas 10-24-2011 8h20m51s
448Binoculars    7
449Untitled1-20150821
450I Don’t Want To Let You Go TP-ALTmm5

Tracking the flood, part 17

401Expatriates In Paris       6
402Doorbell 002
403The Tower of Babel – great piano riff because the night
404Why Won’t You Love Me – v10 verse
4052017-01-13 Untitled1
406Don’t Show Us Your Boobies
407She’s Just A Girl – v4 @130
408El Presidente – 2012-8-23 sketch 3
409I Screwed It All Up
410Come to Stay aka Angel and the One
41137 37 37 37 A37
412Gravity Will Bring You Down – v3
413Work 2-12-2013 10h39m3s
414crushing piano circle of 4ths
415Sepultura – 2
416dictadroid3_2017_8_30_10_46_45
417autotune my face ideas
418Too Good For Me – v3 point 2
419Any Friend of Diane’s   6 three verses @88
420Fast Acoustic Riff
421You’re Prettier Than You Think    2
422ideas 10-8-2011 16h32m39s
423You Could Take Me Anywhere   8
424The Rules Of Life – v38
425I Can’t Break Your Heart Slow – SFTV

deliverance at hand! – Early hints of Weezer’s Red

In 2007, not much was happening in the world of Weezer. The band was taking a break, with Rivers having finished college and getting married the year before. Some media articles from the time were prophesying doom for the band, but it was more of a case of the interviewers misreading Rivers’ focus on his new life.

There was talk that the band was going to hit the studio sometime that year. Then one day in April, a new song leaked on fan message boards. An acoustic demo featuring Rivers, Pig instantly generated excitement because of the subject matter and composition.

But even more exciting (and curious) was the MP3’s metadata. According to the tags, the Pig demo was part of a 17-track album called Deliverance at Hand! And yes, while it was exciting to know that there was a 17-track demo album, the exclamation point was part of the title.

A few years later, a scanned version of a DAH booklet hit fan sites, with a tracklist and lyrics. The Deliverance at Hand versions of My Day is Coming and I Don’t Wanna Let You Go appeared on Alone II. Some Full-band versions of some songs would be heard on 2008’s Weezer (the Red Album), 2009’s Raditude and 2010’s Death to False Metal. When Rivers started selling his demo bundles in his online store in 2020, the remaining tracks from Deliverance at Hand were finally available as part of the Red-Raditude-Hurley Years bundle.

Deliverance at Hand!

1Autopilot  
2Heart Songs  
3Here Comes the Girl  
4I Don’t Wanna Let You Go  
5King  
6Everybody Get Dangerous  
7Leader of the Pack  
8Miss Sweeney  
9My Bark Is Worse Than My Bite  
10My Day Is Coming  
11Piece of the Pie  
12Pig  
13Respect  
14Run Over by a Truck  
15Why Can’t You Shut Your Mouth?  
16The Odd Couple  
17These Things That You Do  
18The Angel and the One  

Overall, the songs are a mixed bag. Some are excellent. Others are okay. And there are a few that are not my thing.

The recording (and writing) is all Rivers. But because it’s a scaled back solo collection doesn’t mean that it’s a straight acoustic recording. Some songs have piano or organ in the back, as well as double-tracked vocals. It is a demo (and it does a really good job of establishing the feel of these songs), but you could tell that Rivers put some work into this collection. It definitely makes a good listen as its own album (which I’ve done with several of these demo collections in the bundles).

Cover, Deliverance at Hand Booklet

Standout songs include Here Comes the Girl, I Don’t Wanna Let You Go, King, Miss Sweeney, Piece of the Pie, Pig, Respect, Run Over By a Truck and The Angel and the One. The three that we don’t have Weezer versions of, HCTG, Piece of the Pie and Respect, would have made excellent additions to any Weezer album.

For the songs that did go on to have full-band versions, outside of instrumentation, these versions are lyrically and structurally similar to the attempts that made Weezer albums. Rivers knows what he’s doing.

Of course, this was put together and shared a while before Weezer began work on the Red album. That album has an excellent booklet detailing some of the song background and recording information (something that I wish Weezer did more frequently). This wasn’t the last demo collection Rivers would put together before Red (but that’s a story for another time).

It was exciting that spring day in 2007 to hear Pig for the first time. A new potential Weezer song – one that sounded great and had meaning (and I say that as a fan of Make Believe). I can only imagine how excited Rivers must have been putting this collection together. No wonder he gave the CD the titular exclamation mark.

Other Thoughts

  • For a while, Piece of the Pie had a reputation among fans as a holy grail. It’s a great song, no doubt. I don’t know that I’d have it up among his finest songs (and there are several from this era that I enjoy more), but it is a highlight.
  • As he was finishing out Harvard in 2005-2006, Rivers was still writing music. Many of those recordings are available in the Red-Rad-Hurley bundle. Despite the reports saying Weezer was done, or Rivers wasn’t interested in music, during that time he did talk up some of the songs that he was working on. One was about the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team (My Day is Coming, on DaH). Another about songs that influenced him throughout his life (Heart Songs, on DaH). And the other one (and possibly most ambitious one) was an internal dialogue about whether he wanted to live on the East Coast or West Coast (East Coast or West Coast, not on DaH, but part of the EWBAITE bundle). ECWC sounded special, as he was going to have Brian sing the parts praising the East Coast and Scott sing the West Coast hype. And it came together very well. But not well enough for Weezer, apparently. The song eventually morphed into the (just as excellent) Up in the Clouds.
  • If you’d like to check out Deliverance at Hand!, it’s part of the Red-Raditude-Hurley Years bundle on Rivers’ website.

Tracking the Flood, part 16

375Sacrifice
376Mykel + Carli – Don Slacks
377Piano I With A 6 In It_ Great Soarin
378It’s Been So Long    4
379heart of hearts 3 @159
380I’ve Had It Up To Here – 2013-10-23 brief vocal sketch 1
381Fair Weather Friend – v7
382Empty Nest – v5
383Hippies – 2013-2-12 sketch 2
384Anonymous – v14
385work 2-21-2013 11h43m51s
386Prom Night   13
387Too Good For Me – v2
388Bless The Whole Wide World – v12
389This is Such a Pity – 2004-07-20
390Johnny Clash   3 weezered @ 185
391You’Re The Victim Of
392Bender   15 summer memories  @79 -1
393Untitled5 3
394The Waste Land – v2
395The Rules Of Life – v32
396@100_2015_2_20_16_1_45
397Any Way The Wind – 2
398c_minor_piano_2015_1_21_15_11_32
399Ideas 6-28-2013 13h36m27s
400Oh No This Is Not For Me – SFTBH

Tracking the Flood, Part 15

350Ideas 10-18-2013 12h55m12s
351Where Did Your Heart Go           6
35245 Yes It’s True
353Fair Weather Friend – v8
354Sweet Peepers – Monterey Jack
355Work 10-26-2012 14h10m45s
356Why Are We? – Monterey Jack
357Rest In Peace – v17
35814 Sweet Jane Song
35902 Heart Songs
36025 Clarinet Waltz
361My Day is Coming (2008 edit C3)
362Fake Smiles And Nervous Laughter – v6
363tense desperate piano 1
364Weekend Woman 7 resing @65
365Don’t Give It Up    3
36607 Baby Doll
367Lethe 2
368East Coast or West Coast – West VocMu 1
369I Hip – 2
370Work 3-23-2013 23h47m13s
371Codependent – v6
372Seven_Times_Nine
373I Want To Be Something
374There’s Good News And Bad News   2 @
375tense 3_4

Tracking the Flood, Part 14

326Rock Star
327St. George – v3 Additional Ch
328Nice Figuration Piano
329Alone In The Dark 3 edits
330I Can’t Forget the Way       2
331I Was Scared – Cbmix2
332The Life I Never Lived – 2005-06-26 clip
333Ideas 3-26-2013 20h30m1s
334She Has A Way With Words – v8
335Smaller Than Life – 2013-2-14 sketch 2
336The Rules Of Life – v7
337Untitled7
338My Place – 2013-10-28 acoustic sketch 2
339She’s Just A Girl – sketch
340Next Life Time
341Now Or Later
342Sweet Love      2 2
343Almost Beautiful   4 verse melo @ 109
344Do You Really Want Me Down? (flange gtr at end) – 2004-05-18
345Empty Inside – v6
346Space Rock
347I Wanna Be With You – 2004-02-02
348Santa Monica – v3 instrumental
349Anonymous – v12

Tracking the Flood, Part 13

301Paisley mixolydian C4
302I Don’t Wanna Bust My Heart – C.O.R. TXX-12
303I Did A Bad Thing
304Ideas 6-11-2013 10h1m39s
305El Presidente      5
306I Won’t Let You Down – v7
307Cleopatra – v11
308pantsu nugu
309the_center_of_the_universe
31002 Stupid Times
311I’m so happy I’m in santa monica
312Pachelbel Strum
313Tired Of Sex – Don Slacks
314Hulk   2 verse melody @ 120
315I V piano
316What I Want – 2013-7-28-13 sketch
317Cleopatra – v17
318The New Girl
319Bill Withers Jamb
320Work 11-17-2012 19h33m35s
321You And Me Together    2013
322Love Canopy – v2
323Cloudy day    391 
32414 I’m gonna sing a little pentatoni
325dictadroid5_2017_8_15_7_40_31

Tracking the Flood, Part 12

276Ever Again 2004-02-12 – 2004-02-13
277The Rules Of Life – v18
278You Could Take Me Anywhere   10
279I Want you To Notice me    2
280The Rules Of Life – v3
281Butterfly
282dictadroid6_2015_2_8_8_50_56
283Sing My Blues Away – v12
284Thanks To The Postman
285cyclone solo 20170412_1224
286Heavy Let It Be Piano Chords
287Anonymous – v11
288Funky Lil Line
289Happy Trails
290I Needed You Now
291soundcheck riffage
292Let’s Go To The 33rd Dimension – v 10
293Lydian Song – acoustic sketch
294The Spider
295Kind Support
296Friday Feeling   15 verse two @104
297My Folks
298Codependent – v12
299troublemaker melody shifted
300Sunday Morning Came (2)
30196._a12_2015_2_26_11_37_11

Tracking the Flood, Part 11

250Peace, Love, And Understanding – 2003 Demos
251Meet Up With Our Maker – v6
252I’m Just Being Honest – 2012-12-14 early piano sketch 3
253Trippin’ Down The Freeway. no voc
254Everyday The Lights
25511 is there anything left to say_
256Superfan     20
257Work 10-25-2013 12h47m38s
258Follow
259Running Man
260Always, Forever – 2004-02-20
26102 Till There Is Nothing Left
262@108_2015_3_3_10_42_9
263dictadroid9_2015_2_10_14_42_10
264Untitled7_2014_2_6_12_24_31
265Let’s Go to the 33rd Dimension – v8
266something’s missing
267Wagamama – v1
268Jodi
269Let’s Get Married INST NO BASS NO PE
27004 More Fuzzy Riffage
271Do You Really Want Me Down? (My Brain) – 2004-04-23
27243 Sing a Melody
273East Coast Or West Coast – v4 No
274Hippies – 2013-2-13 sketch 4
275Jungle – rough 0906 2

Tracking the Flood, Part 10

226Rave Up – v3 pro sketch
227Ideas 3-28-2013 17h14m50s
2282004-07-11  Piano Lick
229Anything But Love
230Up In A Cloud – v23 Demo For Guys
231Ghost   2 @125 melody
23217 Friends Romans, and Countrymens_
233Longtime Sunshine Reprise – SFTBH
234There Is No Try – 2012-11-13 1
235The Damage In Your Heart – 2004-01-09
236The Rules Of Life – v12
237@104_taking_me_for_granted_2015_3_3_
238Speed Wax America
239Cleopatra – v12
24007 It Wouldn’t Be Life
241I Don’t Know What You Want To Be fri
242soundcheck riff techno
243Pinned With the Blame (track for Rivers)
244I Want To Take You Home Tonight – Edi
245Freaky Flag – v4
246Holiday – Don Slacks
247Get Me Mine – acoustic demo
248424 aku
249Up In A Cloud – v24 Instrumental F